What does it mean in Bhikkhu Bodhi's *Life of the Buddha* when he describes Maha Maya as being possessed of the five kāmaguṇa
2
votes
2
answers
75
views
In Bhikkhu Nanamoli's **The Life of the Buddha** when describing the circumstances around his birth, Nanamoli writes
> When the Bodhisatta had descended into his mother's womb, no thought
> of man associated with the five strands of sensual desires came to her
> at all, and she was inaccessible to any man with lustful mind.
>
> When the Bodhisatta had descended into his mother's womb, she at the
> same time possessed the five strands of sensual desires; and being
> endowed and furnished with them, she was gratified in them.
I understand the first paragraph. And, I assume that by "the five strands of sensual desires" he's referring to the five kāmaguṇa in this answer .
The first paragraph seems to be portraying that this was a *virgin* conception (or, if not *virgin*, then it was a pregnancy that did not arise through coitus).
However, I don't understand what is actually being said in the second paragraph quoted. Is it merely saying that, in addition to the purity of her being just described, she was herself exceptionally comely?
Another aspect of this that confuses me is what is meant by "she was gratified in them"?
Asked by A.Ellett
(201 rep)
Jul 2, 2021, 07:23 PM
Last activity: Jul 3, 2021, 02:46 PM
Last activity: Jul 3, 2021, 02:46 PM